So you only have PCI slots and want to game?

The day I'll understand how a 12fps slideshow is smooth gaming is the day I'll sell my HD4870X2 and buy a PCI9500GT...

And that ain't gonna happen.
 
as i mentioned above:

Dell Dimension 2350
P4 2.8 Ghz Northwood
Windows XP SP2
1 Gig Ram DDR2
430 Watt ThermalTake PSU
PNY Nvidia 8400GS 512Meg PCI
Onboard Sound
 
5fps, huh?

Dude, you don't get 5 fps all the time do you ? whats your average fraps?

Also have you played Tomb Raider Legend or tomb raider or tomb raider anniversary, try those games and see how your performance is.
I can't play TR underworld because i am using windows2000SP4, but i wish i could.
 
The day I'll understand how a 12fps slideshow is smooth gaming is the day I'll sell my HD4870X2 and buy a PCI9500GT...

And that ain't gonna happen.

12 fps doesn't do it for me, I am a 30 fps minimum guy with the target at 60 fps or greater if possible. I don't even bother trying to game with my FX 5500 because I know 12 fps is about all I get with this PCI card in games and the only reason I have it is to speed up my non game apps.

Hey, i am currently looking to purchase a PCI graphics card for my Dell Dimension 2400. I found two cards at the moment and i was wondering if you would be able to tell me which is better between the two, the first card is a PNY GeForce 6200 256MB and the other card is a Nvidia 8400GS 512MB.

Thanks in advance. ;)

Edit: The games i wan't to play are Call of Duty: Modern Warfare and Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.

There are two sites you should refer to for the answers to your questions and I'll post the links to both of them. One is GPUReview, an excellent site with up-to-date info on the latest and older graphics cards. The other is Can You Run It?, a great site I discovered in another thread that will give you system requirement info for most games that would cause you concern and if your game isn't on their list, then the requirements to run that game probably aren't too high. GTA:SA is an Xbox era game, so the requirements aren't too high for that and even General should be able to play at full settings. Call of Duty 4 came out this year I believe, so you need a powerful system to play that, I would recommend at least a 8800GT PCI-E for that.


Can You RUN It?

6200 PCI vs. 8400GS PCI


BTW, I am seriously considering putting a different version of the same mobo I already have in my HP OEM PC that has AGP 2.0 slot on it. Reason I only need AGP is because I am using Windows XP Home Edition and that only runs games up to Direct X 9.0c and the HD 3850 AGP should be able to handle all 9.0c games. I also don't want to spend more money upgrading the CPU and RAM, etc when it still isn't quite the rig I want on a PCI-E 2.0 mobo that fits in my PC. PCI gaming is just plain frustrating to me and is only a stop gap solution at best for anyone. Still, even if you are stuck with PCI, get a 8500GT even at the ripoff price of $100 dollars because it is the only card worth getting IMO until we see the 9500GT.
 
Hi guys i'm new here. I have a situation of my own. I just bought the Sims 2 freetime and it's not working. I got the message saying it's not directx 9 compatible. So, I googled and downloaded it. When it still didn't work, i kept googling. Eventually i came across the term "video card". After somm more googling i saw "graphics card" (same thing isn't it?) Anyway i somehow managed to gleen that i may need a new card. After (somehow) managing to check which graphics card i have, i found out i have an Intel (R) 82915G Express Family Chipset. After some more digging (somewhere in this process i tried to update my driver) i came across the possibility that my graphics card was out of date. It probably is, i don't know.
Anyway the requirements for the SIms 2 freetime include either an ATI Radeon 8500 (or greater) chipset or a NVIDIA GeForce2 GTS (or greater) chipset.
What i don't know is if my PC can handle either of those cards.
I have an hp pavilion a1102n computer. I got it like in 2004.
Any and all help is appreciated. Also i don't know if i have the right slot.
Anyway thanks and all the best for the season.
 
12 fps doesn't do it for me, I am a 30 fps minimum guy with the target at 60 fps or greater if possible.
I play Jericho at 1024x768 shader and texture on the highest, and i get 8-17fps. But the game moves at a solid 15fps about 85% of the time, and at 15fps its fast.

I don't even bother trying to game with my FX 5500 because I know 12 fps is about all I get with this PCI card in games and the only reason I have it is to speed up my non game apps.
I think your motherboard is holding you back. Because i still have my FX5500 and it ran about 75% of my games just fine. When i was using windows98se, and my 3dfuzion FX5500, i ran games like flatout 2 at max settings, and got 25-48fps. The FX5500 is a beast of a card. Only thing holiding it back, was the SM 2.0, because it had a 128bit bus.



Call of Duty 4 came out this year I believe, so you need a powerful system to play that, I would recommend at least a 8800GT PCI-E for that
I disagree. With my 2400HD, the game struggles alot with the game, but i get between 10-21fps in the game. I have no idea why it stuggles, like when i am walking in front of everything, it drops to 8-10fps, but when i am inclose areas or looking down, or just looking away, it goes up to 17-21fps.

Interesting, none of this happens with my BFG 6200. When looking at everything, i get 13fps, and when looking down or looking away , or in certain areas i get 16-25fps. I have no idea why the 2400 struggles with the game, but the 6200 does not. I think its due to the drivers tho.


PCI gaming is just plain frustrating to me and is only a stop gap solution at best for.
Not with me, i luv pci cards. :) I never had any problems with them :)

Thanks alot for that Info teklord, i have decided to scrap those cards and i am looking to buy the ATi Radeon HD 2400 Pro PCI
Which 2400HD are you getting, because the Visiontek even tho cost more, has slightly high core and clock and texture and fillrate data.

The HIS version is the best, but its 100+ dollars, the Visiontek was 100+, but drop to around 89. ]

Also i don't know if i have the right slot.
Anyway thanks and all the best for the season.
http://www.diamondmm.com/images/bustypedrwng.gif

take a look and then look at your motherboard and see which slot do you have, i am guessing AGP and PCI.
 
Any and all help is appreciated. Also i don't know if i have the right slot.

I went to the HP website and looked up your OEM PC, it only has PCI slots so I recommend getting a Sparkle 8500GT PCI as I suspect you are using onboard Intel Graphics and that is only good for Solitaire basically.

I think your motherboard is holding you back. Because i still have my FX5500 and it ran about 75% of my games just fine. When i was using windows98se, and my 3dfuzion FX5500, i ran games like flatout 2 at max settings, and got 25-48fps. The FX5500 is a beast of a card. Only thing holiding it back, was the SM 2.0, because it had a 128bit bus.

The FX5500 runs some older games about circa 2003 pretty well, as the demos were running well. That is a limited demographic however and I feel strongly I need more graphics power which is why I am looking to mobo swap for the same one with AGP 2.0 slot in the future. Other games I have tried do not run so well that were Xbox era, so I know I need to upgrade. (I prefer to play with no less than a constant 30 fps on max settings.)

Here's the HD2400 i'm looking to buy off eBay

Interesting, as that is the same guy I got my Sparkle 8500GT from earlier this year, before the 8500GT came out in the US. Make sure you request he ship it with extra shock absorption as my 8500GT went like 5000 miles with only a thin layer of bubble wrap and a "Fragile - Handle With Care" sticker and when it got here there were graphical glitches with the card.

If you don't want to buy a 8500GT then the 8400GS is the next best card and you can use any PCI card with you PC as the GPU or graphics card is completely independent from all other components of the PC, so the RAM types matching is not relevant.
 
Here's the HD2400 i'm looking to buy off eBay:
Yea thats a good deal. Your computer is a mid to high end rig, so you shouldn't have any problems with the 2400HD.

Check over at youtube and you can find some videos where people are gaming with a 2400HD. Also make sure you use 8.12 drivers. :)
 
I went to the HP website and looked up your OEM PC, it only has PCI slots so I recommend getting a Sparkle 8500GT PCI as I suspect you are using onboard Intel Graphics and that is only good for Solitaire basically.
Well, see i looked up the Sparkle 8500GT PCI and the thing is, unless i read it wrong, it's made for Windows Vista. I have Windows Xp. THanks for your suggestion. In doing so you gave me some ideas of things to google and search for. I appreciate all the help i can get. I'm not exactly electronically inclined. And it helps that now i know what type of slot i have. (PCI) And it has to have at least 64 MB of memory. I'll be looking, of course, but many hands make light work. Thanks guys.
 
Well, see i looked up the Sparkle 8500GT PCI and the thing is, unless i read it wrong, it's made for Windows Vista. I have Windows Xp.

The Sparkle 8500GT PCI supports Windows Vista but is not Vista exclusive. I used my Sparkle 8500GT with my Windows XP Home Edition and it worked just fine. What that means is that it is backwards compatible but supports Vista.
 
How to test?

I got my 8400 GS in today, and am installing it tonite. Oh boy, I get to take the computer apart again!

Would someone like to suggest some procedures for testing it? I have GPU-Z. What tests would give the best information about the performance of this card? I'll test and post them. (I can't run game tests, since I own no games except Uru Myst, which has no hi-speed action.) I'll also compare motion etc. on this game with both my cards (Wildcat Realizm 200 and this 8400; unfortunately, GPU-Z can't "read" the Wildcat card, which is a CAD-card anyway.)

I'm still looking for an X1550 to buy, but I refuse to pay more than $40, er, $50 for it, so it might be a wait (I've seen 2 go by on Ebay for over $60; new, they're $100+).
 
Would someone like to suggest some procedures for testing it? I have GPU-Z. What tests would give the best information about the performance of this card? I'll test and post them.

Would you mind taking a screen shot? Click the upper right corner button that looks like a camera in GPU-Z and save it. Then attach the picture in your post of the screenshot so we can compare the official stats between the 8500GT and the 8400GS. Make sure to attach for the slower bandwidth folks. Thx :grinthumb
 
Would you mind taking a screen shot? Click the upper right corner button that looks like a camera in GPU-Z and save it. Then attach the picture in your post of the screenshot so we can compare the official stats between the 8500GT and the 8400GS. Make sure to attach for the slower bandwidth folks. Thx :grinthumb
I Had the 8400GS pny version, so did someone else on this forum before me. The 8500GT has higher stats. But the 8400gs is good. :)

His computer is what ?
Mid range to high end. He is using a P4, they are good and i consider them to be mid-high end. He should be able to game just fine with a p4.

I got my 8400 GS in today, and am installing it tonite. Oh boy, I get to take the computer apart again!
you bought the PNY Version right?
or sparkle?
or BFG?
 
Mid range to high end. He is using a P4, they are good and i consider them to be mid-high end. He should be able to game just fine with a p4.

A P4 is so removed from a mid-high end system today, it isn't even funny. I have a P4 rig among my systems:

P4 3.0Ghz
Biostar P4M900M4 Motherboard
2Gb DDR2 667Mhz
ATI Radeon X1800XL 512Mb

And it is inferior to the Celeron Dual Core E1200 rig my friend runs with the HD2600XT and 2Gb of RAM.

Heck, my main rig isn't a high-end rig. Calling a P4 that is just hillarious.
 
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